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I want there to be moment where someone starts spouting this stuff and an aging Orthodox monk from Mount Athos and/or a habit-wearing Benedictine nun slaps them repeatedly saying "Stop that. Stop it now."

So, this was meant to be funny, and it was, but it was crazy accurate. I'm curious as to why some of these things are so prevalent, because I think some of it is actually detrimental.

A great example is them replacing swear words with something that sounds incredibly similar, or just the first letter of the word. What difference does that make? It only serves to make the person feel more holy or spiritual or pure, but has literally exactly the same meaning. You're just putting that word into someone's head. I don't think it's inherently bad to swear, but it's dependent on the usage of the words. If they are hurtful to people, you're doing it wrong, whether you call someone a dumb-butt or an asshole. It's just lying to yourself.

I find this culture very interesting because I was part of that and talked exactly like that. I am still a Christian but I found that stuff to be unnecessary and not genuine.

I agree that we as Christians should definitely refrain from using hurtful words towards others and take to to be conscious of it if we do so, but there is a distinct qualitative difference in saying, for example, "what the poop" vs. "what the shit". Additionally, if someone where to say the former in front of me, it wouldn't bring the latter to mind. When I watch Napoleon Dynamite, and Napoleon tells his schoolmates that he shot 50 badgers to protect his cousins with a "freakin' 12 gauge", it is not "put into my head" that he says "a fucking twelve gauge, what do you think!"

That's definitely reasonable, I guess I was addressing what was in the video, as they talked about a different use of those words.

However, to address your examples, I would say that it isn't wrong to swear if it's in the correct circumstance. If you are around friends that don't get bothered by it, I'd say it's acceptable, of course assuming you aren't trying to bring anyone down. If you are around someone that it bothers and might cause to stumble, it's definitely unacceptable.

My point overall is that it isn't the word, it's the intention behind it. But you have to take it on a case-by-case basis depending on the people you're around and what else you might be affecting.

Cussing doesn't "cause me to stumble", but it does often generally have an effect on me similar to nails on a chalkboard (which is somewhat ironic since I used to have one of the filthiest mouths of anyone I knew). I get over it though because most everyone around me swears rather freely. I'm also not convinced that "it's not the word".

I mean, the verb "shit" used to mean "separate". Some of these Germanic words were pejorativized whereas their Latinate counterparts were not. For example, we have "excrement" from the old Latin word excrementum, a deverbal noun from excernere 'to separate'. Another good example is "fuck" as opposed to "copulate". Recall that England was invaded by the French (noting that French is derived from Latin), and so a large amount of French vocabulary entered the English lexicon and in many cases replaced English words (Old English lēafwyrm 'caterpillar') or existed alongside the English words ("sweat" and "perspire", though "perspire" sounds fancier right? that's because the French language was the language of the upper class for about 100 years... and so we get "shit" being a bad word but "excrement" being the proper word").

Semantic shift occurs. That's why "retarded" is now a politically incorrect word to use whereas it was actually the *polite** word to use*. And after realizing that, I 100% bought the "it's not the word" argument. There's nothing inherently bad about that cluster of phonemes.

You will still offend your congregation if you cry out "Jesus is the fuckin' man!" in the middle of your service, though.

I'm quite familiar with the amalgamation of Old English, French, and Latin to form Middle English and the language that thereafter developed out of it which we speak today.

Clearly there is nothing "inherently bad" about a cluster of phonemes, evidenced simply by the numerous different languages that exist across the planet.

I could give you a list hundreds of words long that details words which have drastically changed meaning, but it's not really relevant for more than its etymological value. The fact that "shit" comes from the supposed Proto-Indo-European root *skeyd-, meaning "to split", doesn't have much bearing on its modern usage. The fact is that it is to the modern English-speaking-world qualitatively offensive.

I'm curious as to why some of these things are so prevalent, because I think some of it is actually detrimental.

The phrases I've heard a lot (not megachurch or pentecostal or non-denominational, but definitely evangelical and baptist) are all straight from Scripture, like "guard your heart," and I think that's why they're so prevalent.

Man, if I knew Christianity was like swordfighting, I would have signed up way earlier. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

Honestly, she probably means something like "don't open up and get serious very quickly". She's probably just saying to take your relationship slowly and try to figure out what kind of person he is, because most people aren't exactly their true selves on the first couple dates.

For a moment The Wasteland and The Swamp didn't seem to work, but just make the band a little more grungy and focus on the idea that 'our world is a wasteland/swamp compared to heaven' or something similar.

"So I was waiting at a stop light the other day when I saw a homeless man crossing the road. He wore an old letter jacket, a ripped pair of jeans, and a single shoe that was missing its laces, and with every step he took the tongue of that shoe would bounce up and down unrestrained by lace. We as Christians need to be more like that shoe..."

Hmmm... Like a ragged shoe, sure!

Or things that you have no idea where they're going: So I was reading reddit the other day and I came across a comment with 28 downvotes. It was by a guy who time after time posted a tired old joke about an arrow in his knee. Nobody ever appreciated his posts, but he for months he continued. If you would please open bibles to Isaiah chapter 12 verse 2.

The Condition, The Editor, The Flood, and The Passenger work. If you Google "the flood youth group" you get all kinds of results. When I was in high school, everyone went to either The Flood.... Burning 617? Or something like that?... The Basement (they met in a church basement)... or one with a normal name (Suburban Neighborhood Youth Group).

Don't forget saving yourself for the right godly man and how one should conduct oneself in a relationship as to best of glprify god (as in letting the man lead the relationship and be quite)... I may or may not have walked in on one of those...

I'm so with you. Dear Lord, I could hardly contain myself at "the edge, the bridge, velocity!" etc. etc. ad nauseum. WHY DO YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR NON-DENOMINATIONAL MINISTRY SOUND HIP. I LIKE TO JUST CALL IT MASS AND BE DONE WITH IT. If you were truly "in this world and not of it, you wouldn't need to adhere to such tactics...

They're trying to keep high schoolers and college-age adults interested, and provide a hook for new people.

I don't understand though. Has this ever actually worked? Has anyone ever said "Whoa, man, you went somewhere called Energize? Dude, that sounds like something I'd want to check out!" If I weren't a Christian, and I heard that my friends were going to something called Verve or Thrive or Excite or whatever, I'd just assume they were doing something stupid.

It's like when churches adopt different names. "We're not a church! We're a fellowship!" You're not fooling anyone. No one is buying it.

lol what? Are you kidding me? Mass hasn't been in Latin in a very long time, friend. I think you're just spouting age old baptist rhetoric in some attempt to get a rise out of Catholics. You do realize mass is in English, right? Or whatever language happens to be the dominating one in any given country? Your response is ignorant at best, and flat out lies at worst.

Cracked up so hard at about 1:20 that I had to pause. This is The Office levels of cringe right here. Also, "fellowshipping." That's how I know you and I aren't going to get along. If you have to justify spending time with me by churchifying the term for us hanging out.

If you have to justify spending time with me by churchifying the term for us hanging out.

That seems a little judgy, eh? I've used it before, but not to "justify" hanging out -- just to recognize that beyond us "hanging out" there's another level of ministry and care going on in two friends grabbing a pint or going to the show, you know?

Am I? These vids obviously paint with a broad brush and that's what makes them so stupid. But people actually end up associating the stereotypes with the groups in the end. Omg it's like, so true hurr durr

Yeah, idk if I it is because I am a Lutheran or what, but I never talk like that. Even being a seminary student I do not hear people talk like that. Maybe I use and hear the word accountability every now and again, but that is about it.

Full disclosure: I'm a bit of a potty-mouth, but not in anger or in a context in which it would offend. That said, here's an observation--

I find the hierarchy of offensiveness that we apply to swear words here in the States very strange. If any person, Christian or otherwise, stops to think about what we mean when we say "go to hell" or "that damn(ed) guy," we can see that "damn" and "hell" contain some of the most horrible sentiments imaginable to wish on another person. I mean, they're "curse" words in the truest sense. However, they're considered mild enough imprecations to be almost socially acceptable.

On the other hand, there are some other terms that concern natural bodily functions or body parts that TV censors, for example, will eliminate from network programming. Depending on the context, most of these signify something fairly harmless. If our definition of a "really bad word" holds up any kind of mirror to how we rank what is sacred and what is taboo, then we're seeing a reflection of a group whose priorities need to be adjusted.